MORE UNITED THAN EVER
Newcastle United boss Rafa Benitez hits incredible approval rating - as fans vote on where club should finish. Newcastle United Editor Mark Douglas reports
THE staggering extent of Rafa Benitez’s popularity at Newcastle has been revealed in our biggest ever Big Toon Survey – with an incredible 99.7% of fans saying he’s the
RIGHT man to lead Newcastle. Benitez’s poll popularity has even seen him nudge a percentage point higher than last season, when United fans were so desperate for him to stay.
Our Big Toon Survey polled fans on transfers, the board, signings and the season just gone.
But it is the complete faith in Benitez that is the most striking aspect of the survey, which also polled supporters on their views of his tactics – one of the few things that have been debated by supporters in a title-winning season.
Benitez has not only won fans around with the success that the team has experienced on the field, they are also rallying around a manager who they feel has transformed the culture of the club.
His status as the most popular Newcastle manager since Kevin Keegan is cemented in our poll, which also reveals:
88% have given his style of football the thumbs up;
77% of fans think he’s done an “outstanding” job this season;
While 22% think he’s done a “good” job;
85% of respondents felt he was the major reason for promotion.
Those results have also contributed to optimism for next season – although United fans seem fairly realistic about what can be achieved.
More than 50% of Newcastle fans are expecting a finish between 8th and 12th – while 34% think Newcastle will finish between 12th and 16th.
It is not quite the devil-may-care attitude that propelled Keegan when he took Newcastle into the top flight in 1992.
But there is a real belief that the club will avoid the relegation battle that has typified their last TWO campaigns in the top flight.
We had more than 3,000 fans respond in two weeks of the biggestever survey and the Benitez question.
YES: 99.7% NO: 0.3%
First, a bit of context. When Alan Pardew led Newcastle to fifth in the 2011/12 season, he had an 89% approval rating. That sunk like a stone the following year, with 43.85% of respondents calling for him to be sacked.
Neither John Carver nor Steve McClaren proved popular appointments in the Big Toon Survey.
Benitez has bucked the trend of managers’ popularity waning by actually improving his approval rating. It’s hardly surprising but 99.7% of our respondents felt he was the right man for the job and some of the endorsements were particularly ringing.
Newcastle fan Steve Glynn summed it up: “He has inspired hope in the fans that supporting Newcastle United is about what we can achieve together; it might be that the fans, players and management will no longer be so disconnected, a ruinous situation.
“The buffoonery of the past decade might be at an end. Rafa’s status, experience and profile make me think he can actually achieve this.”
Kieran Walden said: “(He has) a proven track record of building a competitive squad for reasonable expenditure. Also, very few managers would have been able to do what he’s done over the past year.
“The fans, for the first time under Ashley, are united and we have some optimism that we could achieve something special with Rafa. To add to that the Academy is now improving, something no previous manager has bothered to address.
“To sum up, in Rafa, we have a manager that cares about the health of the club and sees the bigger picture and not just one season.”
David Lee was looking forward. “A world-class proven manager who can get the best out of most players no matter what their reputation may be. His tactical style will work a treat in the Premier League.”
Chris Miller of South Shields said: “I admire him immensely for choosing to stay and put his reputation on the line to help get us back up. Strength of character, calm, professional and resilient. All needed to be a top manager, especially at Newcastle.” Our word cloud revealed the top word fans inputted was simple: “Hope”.
2. How do you rate Rafa Benitez’s work over the past 12 months?
OUTSTANDING: 76.46% GOOD: 22.18% SATISFACTORY: 1.09% BELOW SATISFACTORY: 0.27%
If there was even a hint of mitigation about the work Benitez has done, it was in the comments here. Most agreed his season had been a towering achievement, but there were a few mentions of poor performances or the periods when things did not go so well.
Dominic Scurr said: “(He) got the job done but (it) was hardly a walk in the park – some very poor performances every so often but given the demands of the Championship season some slip-ups are permissible.”
Adam Stoker commented: “On the field there have been times we’ve not been great, but his job has been about more than the team – it’s been about the club. Everyone is happy and for the first time in a long time optimistic going forward.”
But there was a general feeling that while the performances may have dipped at times, Benitez’s job was bigger than just delivering wins.
Gibraltar-based fan Mark Douglas – no relation – summed it up when he said: “He has brought the fans and club back together whilst also winning the championship, what more could he have done?”
Iain Colquhoun said: “There is a steel in away performances like nothing I’ve seen in 30 years.”
3. Do you like Rafa Benitez’s style of play?
YES: 87.37% NO: 12.63% We put this question in because
In Rafa, we have a manager that cares about the health of the club and sees the bigger picture Kieran Walden
we wanted to dig into the way fans viewed not only Benitez’s impact on the club – which has, surely, been overwhelmingly positive – but also the way he sets his teams up.
There was a ringing endorsement for Benitez’s approach but an admission in plenty of the answers that it is pragmatic and sometimes is not the most enthralling. Any of those concerns, though, were drowned out by positives about what he has turned Newcastle into.
United have scored more than 100 goals this season, many pointed out. The resolve of his teams away from home was a big positive. This is not Keegan’s free-flowing Entertainers but given the way Newcastle had performed over previous years – especially when Steve McClaren took over and attempted to return attacking football to Newcastle’s play – there is a feeling that there are no grounds for complaint.
Time and time again, people point out that it’s been a winning strategy this year. Time and again they point out that pragmatism is important, too. The most often mentioned word in our word cloud was “tactics”.
Barry Watson from Ryton wrote: “Versatility and pragmatism. We haven’t had this since the days of Sir Bobby Robson.”
Stephen Foster of Durham wrote: “We’re not Barca mark two, but we’re hardly a long-ball side.” Fans do expect to see progression in the way Newcastle play. It was often remarked that a more attacking or expansive style might arrive when Benitez gets a few more transfer windows under his belt and has the personnel to match a more ambitious approach.
Jonathan Gurney said: “I think defensive solidity is one of the most valuable qualities for a club being promoted to the Premier League.
“While it would be thrilling to follow a team that plays in the manner of Keegan’s Entertainers, that style of football should be reserved for when we are a stronger side.
“Fighting for a top-half spot in the Prem next season will come down to nicking the odd game, not hammering four or five goals past everyone, so I think it was important we didn’t play too recklessly this season in preparation for the next.” 4. Where do you think Newcastle will finish next season? Champions: 0.5% Top four: 0.3% Top eight: 6.6% Between 8th-12th: 57.3% Between 12th-16th: 34% 16th-17th: 0.8% Relegation: 0.3%
Most pointed out that they would be in a better place to answer this after transfer business is done but there was a general optimism about Newcastle’s chances, with very few respondents mentioning relegation.
Similarly, most seemed to think the top seven was a bridge too far – even with Rafa Benitez in charge. The space in between eighth and 16th was where most thought Newcastle would finish – with good signings and decent dealing the deciding factor for most.
Gateshead’s Simon Atkinson summed that feeling up: “(We) need to be realistic. Given the gulf between the top 7 and the rest of the Premier League teams, it is not impossible to pop ourselves behind that top 7 and that would be considered a great season.
“Finishing around the top 10 will be satisfactory for me but as long as Rafa has the money and the players to match the team that he wants, consolidating our position in the top flight for the next season is what matters.”
Everyone is happy and for the first time in a long time optimistic going forward. Adam Stoker Versatility and pragmatism. We haven’t had this since the days of Sir Bobby Robson Barry Watson